Major Wind Storm Causes Widespread Power Outages Across Colby

What started as a severe weather threat Saturday evening quickly turned into a long and frustrating night for many families across Colby as powerful winds knocked out electricity to large portions of the city.

As storms moved east into Thomas County on Saturday, May 16, winds became the biggest story of the evening. Between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. CDT, wind gusts rapidly intensified around Colby. The strongest measured gust reached 88 mph at a mesonet station located two miles east-northeast of Colby at 6:47 p.m. Additional reports included an 85 mph gust south of Colby and a 75 mph gust southwest of Mingo.

The extreme winds caused extensive damage across Colby, snapping utility poles, damaging transformers, and plunging neighborhoods and businesses into darkness beginning around 7:40 p.m. CDT.

According to Colby City Manager Ron Alexander, six power poles were initially damaged along a line running on the west side of Range Avenue behind Tubbs and Sons and neighboring businesses. The outage affected several businesses along Range along with residential neighborhoods including Mentlick, Villa Vista, Terrace, and Wheatridge. Those residential areas were restored around 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening.

Another major issue occurred when a transformer at the substation located at 5th and Walker was lost, impacting residents in the far northwest portion of Colby.

For many residents, the outage became more than just an inconvenience. Families spent much of Sunday trying to save food and stay connected. One Colby family told NWKS Radio they packed bags of ice on top of freezer food and moved refrigerated items into coolers to avoid losing groceries during the extended outage. Others relied on friends and family members in parts of town that still had electricity to charge phones and store food.

The outage also created an unusual silence across the airwaves at the KXXX building on Range Avenue. Three stations went dark during the outage, leaving the building quiet until power was finally restored Sunday evening .... just in time for NWKS Radio to return to the air to provide coverage of another round of severe weather moving into the region.

City electric crews worked nonstop to restore service, putting in long hours through difficult conditions.

“The Line Crew worked a 24 hour shift starting Saturday evening,” Alexander said. “They are back at it this morning restoring power to the businesses affected on Range.”

Crews from the City of Colby received assistance from the City of Goodland Electric Department, which deployed Sunday morning to help repair the transformer outage at the substation.

While much of Colby had electricity restored by approximately 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, some portions of town — including the KXXX studios — remained without power until approximately 5:40 p.m. Sunday.

Colby was not alone in dealing with the powerful winds. Hill City, Burlington, and many rural properties across the region also reported significant outages and storm damage over the weekend.

A huge thank you goes out to the utility crews from both the City of Colby and City of Goodland who worked tirelessly through the night and all day Sunday to safely restore power to homes and businesses across the community.